


Entirely Useless

by SassySnowperson (DramaticEntrance)



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Dancing, F/M, Or at least Cassian lives, Post-Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Rebuilding a government together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 12:56:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17447393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DramaticEntrance/pseuds/SassySnowperson
Summary: In the aftermath of war, two useful veterans work to build peace. And maybe find time to do something just...entirely useless.There was something uniquely silent about a government building after ten in the evening, and they huddled together in self-defense. It had become something of a routine. They were both workaholic night owls, Leia with her neverending piles of senate legislation and Cassian with his steady stream of security team debriefings. It was nice not to be alone in the echoing quiet.





	Entirely Useless

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pontmercyingtilthecowscomehome](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pontmercyingtilthecowscomehome/gifts).



> Mercy, your passion for this ship got me to write this. Thanks for sharing your joy with us :D 
> 
> Huge thanks to [ANTchan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ANTchan/) and [RogueShadows](https://www.archiveofourown.org/users/rogueshadows/) for the cheering and the beta.

"How'd you get out of that one?" Leia asked idly, most of her attention taken up by the datapad she was scrolling through. 

"Stole a waitstaff uniform and a tray, passed around the appetizers until I got close enough to Moff Lippa to lift her access card, then worked my way over to the door and let myself into the study. Easy enough, after that," Cassian responded, before going back to his own reports. 

There was something uniquely silent about a government building after ten in the evening, and they huddled together in self-defense. It had become something of a routine. They were both workaholic night owls, Leia with her neverending piles of senate legislation and Cassian with his steady stream of security team debriefings. It was nice not to be alone in the echoing quiet. 

Maybe it was that. Or maybe there was just something kindred about the two of them. There were so many people around, now, that didn't spend their youth being trained, in one way or another, to fight a war. You couldn't throw a shoe without hitting one of those in the Rebellion. But now the war was over and all these people who had lived safe protected childhoods came crawling out of the woodwork, eager for their place in the New Republic.

Cassian would never wish a childhood spent maximizing utility on a person, but it did make someone easier to understand. Leia's training was different than his, but she was trained, nonetheless. Cassian understood her perfectly. 

"Lippa…" Leia mused. She fell silent after that, conversation fading as the policy caught her attention. She surfaced again, a few minutes later, picking up the conversation where she left off. "That wouldn't be Mink Lippa, would it? From Duro?" 

Cassian blinked, trying to pull the memory back more sharply. "I think...yes." 

"We were on the junior senate together." Leia shook her head, a derisive little gesture. "You should have just asked her to dance. She never could resist the chance to show off snagging the most handsome man in the room." 

Cassian felt a shiver of excitement run through him. There was a certain implication in that, and he approached it like he would a snarling dog, one that could bite at any minute. 

Which is to say he did his best to ignore it entirely. "I don't know how to dance." 

"Really?" Leia asked, sounding genuinely surprised. 

"Well, not the sort of dances Moff Lippa would approve of," Cassian said, his amusement fueling a small smile. "My missions took me to nightclubs more than ballrooms."

"Now there's a mental image," Leia said, biting back a laugh. "Could you imagine?"

"I can imagine how quickly it would have gotten me shot." 

"Oh, I don't know. Mink probably would have enjoyed the fuss." Leia wrinkled her nose. "Though I wouldn't wish her on you, come to think of it. You probably had the safer plan. Do you want to learn?"

"Learn?" 

"To dance." 

"Ah…" Cassian gestured over his security reports. "It would hardly be useful now." 

"Doesn't mean you can't learn," Leia said, eyebrows going into a mulish expression Cassian adored (quietly, and entirely to himself, but adored nonetheless). "Not everything has to be useful." 

And with that she stood up, and started shoving the lightweight table against the wall. Cassian yelped as his surface disappeared from under him, grabbing at his datapad to keep it from running off. "Leia…" 

"Come on, Cassian. For once, we are going to do something entirely useless." She held out a hand to him, wiggling her fingers. 

"Leia, I—I couldn't ask you to—"

Her fingers wiggled even more insistently. 

Cassian sighed, took her hand, and stood. He helped Leia clear the rest of the chairs away, dropping his datapad off as he went. He circled back to the newly cleared center of the room, ending up facing her, inexplicably nervous. He kept his hands still at his side, to keep from fidgeting. 

"Don't look so grim, Cassian." Leia shook her head. "It's a dance, not an execution." 

Cassian grunted his disbelief, relishing her bright laugh in response. 

Hands here, feet move like this, Cassian could pick it up quickly enough. He had always been a decently fast learner when it came to body mimicry, his face furrowed in concentration as he let Leia teach him how to move and spin and touch. 

He didn't entirely succeed in concentrating. 

His chest burned and he felt dizzy with how close she was. He could feel her warmth and get hints of her scent. The careful six inches between their bodies did nothing to stifle the sensation, it only made their three deliberate points of contact take on a terrifying significance, his attention hyperfocused on the shift of her thumb along his, on the press of her fingers against his shoulder, on the way her waist fit under his palm.

"You're nearly competent." Leia sounded amused. "Just need to work on that face." 

Cassian blinked out of his concentration, feet stumbling as he locked eyes with her. They stopped moving, but she didn't let go, staring at him intently. Cassian licked his lips. "Face?" he asked. 

"Most people want their partner to have an expression other than grim resignation when they're dancing together. That's the sort of thing that could hurt a girl's feelings." Leia grinned up at him. "Once the steps come naturally, try to look at your partner like you can at least tolerate them." 

Cassian smiled down at her. He more than tolerated Leia. They shared so much. A war fought side-by-side. A determination to craft something better out of the rubble. Cups of caf and evenings together. She drew out his joy more surely than anyone he knew. 

"Oh," Leia said softly, something complicated on her face. 

Too late, Cassian remembered that he had decided to keep those sorts of emotions to himself. He had no desire to burdan her with unwanted affections. He opened his mouth to—what? Apologize? Explain? Excuse?

He never found out which route his brain would have settled on, because suddenly, Leia was kissing him, her lips firm and insistent against his, and nothing else seemed particularly important any longer. 

He wrapped his arms around her, hauled her close to him, their three distinct points of contact blurring into a tangled whole. She was so soft, pressed flush against his front, but he was the one yielding, opening his mouth as she claimed it, her fingers tangled in his hair to drag him closer still.

She was brilliant and bright and everything Cassian had been trying to convince himself he didn't want. Didn't need. Didn't deserve. But here she was, pressing up against him, giving and demanding in turn. No matter how bad of an idea he thought it might be, Cassian was unable to do anything other than follow where she lead. 

Leia pulled back, gasping, giving a brief but meaningful glance at the conference table pushed up against the wall behind him. Cassian's breath hitched, and his fingers spasmed against her back. He didn't know what he'd do if she started tugging him backwards. 

No, he did know. He'd go. Against his better judgement, he'd go. There was no part of him left that could resist her. 

But she didn't. She sighed, and looked back at him, that same mulish determination on her face. "Not tonight." 

Cassian nodded, Heat was surging through his veins, and his body begged to wrap itself around her, inside her. And yet, he took a step back. He would not pressure her. Never. 

She didn't let him go far. Fingers threading through his belt loops, she kept him from moving more than a few inches away. "Don't misunderstand me, Cassian. I want you." She shivered, her dark eyes growing hungry. "But I won't let this turn into an impulsive thing we regret." 

"I wouldn't—"

"Regret it?" Leia finished. 

Cassian didn't think that was what he was going to say. Something more along the lines of the fact that he would never have asked, have presumed, because he knew that _she_ was the one that would regret things. Their lives didn't fit together, no matter how well their bodies did. 

She answered his unspoken thoughts, as neatly as if he had blurted them aloud. "I know you, Cassian. You let your body get carried away and your head will regret it later. You're already considering regretting it." 

Cassian gave a wry smile, acknowledging her accurate assessment. When had she figured out his tells? 

"So your body wants me." Leia leaned up again, pressing a light kiss against his lips. "I just have to win your head around. Give me some time, I think I can manage it."

"Aren't hearts usually involved?" The words slipped past the wall Cassian usually placed between his thoughts and his mouth. He didn't exactly regret them, though. He was beginning to think he might not need to raise that wall quite so high, with Leia.

Leia gave a slightly sad smile. "You've always given away your heart too easily. To causes, usually. But people too, when they get close enough. If I don't already have yours, it'll come along soon." 

Cassian reached forward, cradling Leia's face between his palms, running his thumbs over her cheeks. She was right, of course. "And what about yours?"

Leia's eyes fell shut. "My body and mind are in agreement. My heart doesn't commit quite so easily, anymore. For anyone. And yet…" Leia let go of his belt, reached up and grabbed his hands, pulling them down. She held his hands in front of her, as she opened her eyes again. "I think I've got a better chance with you than with anyone else. I'd like to take it."

Cassian nodded and gave a small smile. It grew into a laugh when Leia took one of his hands and laid it on her waist, bringing her now-free hand up to his shoulder again. "Picking up where we left off?" Cassian asked. 

"I think there's more tongue if we pick up exactly where we left off…" Leia winked.

Cassian felt himself color, pulling her in a closer to cover for his embarrassment. Her little gasp was very satisfying. "I believe you were telling me I should pay more attention to my facial expressions."

He looked at her with all the parts of his heart that were already hers, all those broken edges and wounded spaces that nevertheless reached towards something new. She swallowed, looking back at him with her own gentleness, the air between them charged with a new potential as they started, once again, to move together.

**Author's Note:**

> It takes about five weeks, but eventually Leia convinces Cassian to teach her those other dances he knows in return. Shortly after that, the conference table is used for DISTINCTLY non-business purposes. 
> 
> Want to chat with me? You can find me [on Tumblr!](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sassysnowperson)


End file.
